Kingdom of Proclivity

AN: Yeah… so I haven't updated my old fics in a long while… eh… completely my fault, I admit. I wanted to update them now, when I have nothing else to do, but I just feel so disconnected from them. I need a full long weekend to get back into them, I think, to re-read and re-think them over… Oh, hey, lookit me, going on. I right away assume that anyone reading this has to be reading this cause you've read my other stories, eh heh. Well, assuming that's true, there's a 75 percent chance I'll continue GoLaF, since I luvs that ficcy, and a 50 percent chance I'll continue BL with a 25 percent chance of re-writing :D

Now… onto this… eh, just a random story I wanted to start cause I was bored and couldn't find a Itanaru fic that could satisfy me, hee. Sadly, I'm not sure if this will end up a itanaru… I just can't seem to write that pairing, for some reason, gao…

DISCLAIMER: omg, I almost forgot this xO -inserts disclaimer- I don't own Ferretpon, Naru-tan, Saa-rin, Pandachi, or even mean old Pinku-chan. Teehee, I'm such a geek. Those are all my personal nicknames for Naruto character, eh heh heh.

Chapter 1

Naruto Uzumaki yawped in joy, his small nine tails flaring to life as he ran. The fox's unusually large blue eyes were narrowed in concentration and his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth lazily, flowing slightly in the breeze, as his fit body was racked with pants.

Naruto was part of the Uzumaki family, a family of foxes. But more then that, their bloodline held the spirit of the ancient demon fox, the Kyuubi. Every generation, a pup would be born housing the reincarnated spirit of the monstrously powerful kitsune. It just so happened that this generation's Kyuubi was also the clan dunce. At the age of 13, Naruto still had yet to harness the monster within him, and the hyperactive kit could barely hunt to keep his body strong.

That was why he was so overjoyed to have a weasel on the run today.

A snickering growl came from the pup's snout as he nimbly jumped on a log, using the solid footing to push himself off and forward, landing perfect inches before the red-eyed weasel's path.

With a foxy grin, Naruto stepped forward, his head bowed and his fangs dripping with saliva. Weasels were small, with hardly any fat on them, but their meat was always tender and their catch was honored in his family for their natural cunning and speed. Fox tails twitching at the ends, Naruto tried to stay perfectly still. The weasel was staring at him, gouging him, waiting for the moment to flee. Naruto would not allow that. Staring straight into the rodent's small eyes, Naruto made it clear who was the predator and who was the prey. Never once blinking, the fox sprung at the weasel, falling upon it with his jaw opened and ready for the kill.

But the kill never came. And, instead, Naruto found his needle-point teeth digging into human flesh.

Shocked, Naruto recoiled, the bitter taste of human blood flooding his senses.

How... No! He was my prey! Dammit!

Taking a step back, Naruto stared up at the human man. He hadn't said anything yet, a fact that irritated the kitsune even more. Naruto was undeniably small as it was, making hunting horses and boars hard, but the chances that he could beat a human with tooth and claw alone, with no grasp of the Kyuubi's powers, were near dismal.

Especially this human, with eyes, as red as the blood that dripped unattended from his left arm, that were dotted with small black pinwheels. The boy had never seen a human like that, but he'd never seen many humans that weren't Fox Changelings.
Naruto growled. The human raised a perfect black brow.

What's he waiting for? Does he want me to run? I can't run! The embarrassment, being bettered by a weasel. A weasel! Exactly!

It was a known fact that weasels were skinny, weak humans. They relied mostly on trickery for their food and were usually the first to flee in confrontations. This one, despite eerie eyes, had to merely be putting on an act to seem strong. Weasels did that a lot- pretended to be strong and powerful, though when they really weren't. Ironically, Foxes did the same a lot of the time, using their natural talent of shape shifting to their advantage. The weasels and foxes were on friendly terms, allies, even, in the forest of Konoha. But Naruto knew none of that, for he slept during lessons.

Taking another step back, Naruto shifted from his fox form to his human form. Head bowed and tails lowered, his golden fur bristled as limbs became longer and lost their fur and yellowed fangs became yellowed teeth. Standing at his full height, which wasn't much, even though his company was far from towering, Naruto looked quite the confident image: smirk on his whiskered face, oversized canines gleaming unabashed, and hands planted on small hips.

"You, weasel, what do you want?" The fox questioned the weasel harshly and haughtily.

"So what they say is true- The Kyuubi really is nothing more then a useless runt." The weasel replied with a small smirk as he brought his bitten arm back beneath his black cloak.

"Wh-what?" Naruto exclaimed, rage and embarrassment taking him over as his hands quickly balled into tight fists. "Repeat that, rodent! I'll finish the job I started before!" The words seemed to amuse the man, since he chuckled a few times under his breath, head turned to the side and silky black bangs hiding his red eyes from Naruto.

When he turned back, he was still smiling, though it was a tainted smile; just as eerie as his eyes, which seemed to have changed, gotten more intense, though Naruto couldn't quite figure why. The fox flinched under the gaze, suddenly feeling trapped. His feet wouldn't move, and he wanted to desperately look down and see what had caught them. But he couldn't. He couldn't even speak.

What's… what's happening to me? What the hell is this!

Naruto's bottom lip began to tremble as he fought furiously to move his feet, to run from the advancing weasel.

"You can't escape, little Kitsune. Not from my Mangekyou Sharingan. Nobody can escape from my Mangekyou Sharingan."

Like hell I can't! I'm not some dumb dog, captured with a pathetic stare down! Naruto thought angrily, his heart beat racing as panic took a stronger hold on him. He was still disgusted that the weasel thought he could beat him like that, with some silly trick of the eyes, but a deeper part of him was terrified, since he was being beaten by this silly trick. Beaten with no way out.

Kyuubi… where are you? Where are you when I need you! Please, Kyuubi… I need you now more then ever… just, help me beat this bastard!

"Now, Kitsune… look deeply into my eyes and experience the pain… the pain of being whipped by leather straps for three days…" The man ordered, his voice soft and smooth and pleasing to the ears.

Kyuubi…Naruto's mind pleaded one last time as he felt the constraints of the Mangekyou Sharingan encircling him. Please…

Something like thunder struck in Naruto's mind, bleaching his vision with untamable white light and making him dizzy and disoriented. Groaning in shock, He furiously rubbed his eyes with his palms, his knees shaking uneasily. Slowly, the bonds of the Sharingan lowered. Naruto felt an intense relief like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he hadn't realized how strong the attack against had been. Looking around him, everything suddenly seemed clearer, sharper to his true blue eyes, and he gaped around unashamed, finally turning back to the enemy.

The weasel didn't look shocked. Maybe a little annoyed, as far as Naruto could guess, or slightly angry. But not surprised.

"I see you awakened him. That just makes my job easier."

'Now! Destroy him! Kill! Go, host, ravage him and tear the one who dared attempt to capture the great Kyuubi!'

Thrown off by the wave of intense anger and hatred that was in him and not of him, Naruto put a hand to his heart like he believed the Kyuubi resided there. He was grinning now, despite the danger that still rested feet before him. He felt the Kyuubi's power in him, blazing with strength in the pit of his stomach. It was an ecstatic feeling.

"This is taking far longer then I anticipated. I'll just have to end it now." The weasel said as he moved his arms out from under his cloud dotted cloak.

Naruto looked up just in time to see him coming at him, though alarm gripped him when he realized he couldn't move his feet yet. Though weakened, the Mangekyou Sharingan was still in effect, just enough to make the young pup easy prey.

A cold, white, hand grabbed Naruto around the neck, turning his chin up with one ringed finger. Naruto's teeth clenched and his hands shot up to free himself. Foxy nails dug into the wrist of the hand, but it was all in vain. The weasel's grip was as strong as that of a stone angel of death.

"Wh-why are you d-doing this, w-weasel?" Naruto asked through a trembling jaw and constricted neck.

"I'm not a weasel." The man whispered into Naruto's ear as he lent in, his body right up against Naruto's back. Soft tendrils of black hair brushed Naruto's cheek while the rough fabric of the cloak rubbed against the bare spot on his lower back, sending shivers of awareness through his bones. "I'm a wolf."

But… all the wolves of Konoha Forest are dead…Was the last thought that ran through Naruto's mind before the man struck him in the head with enough force to knock him out. Warm blood flowed into his open mouth, down sharpened canines, and across dry lips as the fox's body went completely limp with torpidity.


A lone crow perched on a blackened and gnarled bough of the ancient and spindly dead tree on the cliff. It was the only tree, set against a faraway horizon of green canopies and resting on a desolate base of burnt and useless russet earth.

A small, scarlet tanager glided down beside the other bird, landing just as quietly as the crow had hours before. A moment of silence went by as the tanager turned its red-eyed gaze to the crow, and then the stillness was broken as both birds swiftly transformed into fully grown humans seated surely on the branch.

"Why are we meeting here, Kakashi?" The Tanager asked irritably as she pushed wild strands of dull black hair out of her glistening face. The woman, with her brilliant red eyes and sharp lashes, was covered in three layers of impressive and intricate looking robes and dresses not made for this part of Konoha Forest and its heat.

"Because I like the view." The Crow replied flatly as he gestured to the land below the cliff: black, lifeless, and burnt in a time long ago. The woman frowned in reply.

"Well, then tell me, why are we meeting at all?"

"I thought I should tell you, Kurenai. I've had Gekkou Hayate following the Traitor Wolf." Kakashi paused, giving Kurenai knowing time to apprehend without moving his eyes from the depressing remains of life below him. She took a sharp intake of breath, her composer broken and eyes alert.

"Why?" Kakashi shrugged in reply.

"I thought it would be best. I have other reasons, my own reasons." And he let it drop there. "Either way, there's been some recent activity." The crow let a gap of silence fall between then as he stared off with his usual laze, one-eyed gaze.

"He's taken the Kyuubi." He finally said, face and body unreadable for any show of impression.

"The Kyuubi? Why? That doesn't make any sense… what would Uchiha Itachi want with the Kyuubi?" She questioned, voice rising to an atypical level as she wrung her hands as discreetly as possible. Kurenai was old enough to remember the last rampage of the Kyuubi, and the mere thought of what was capable of the demon when it was in the hands of the Traitor Wolf was terrifying.

Kakashi shrugged again, his indifference to the matter thrown off only by the way his shoulders slumped down slightly.
"I don't know. I just thought I should tell you, so you could inform the Aviary Council."

"Yes, yes I'll do that…" The tanager woman said in flustered determination as she nodded her head.

"Something may be coming…" The Crow added as a sharp breeze chilled them both, silver bangs and black locks being pulled with it.

"Is that all, Kakashi?"

A pause, another breath of wind, and then a reply. "Yes, that's all."

"What will you do now?"

"I don't know. I'll wait on Hayate's next message." He answered with the same aloof movement as before.

"Okay then. Well, I'll inform the others. I have to return to Princess Hinata now. Contact me with any more developments, Kakashi." With a nod towards the crow, the tanager stood to her full height on the slim branch, head tilted as her arms turned into wings and skin sprouted feathers as she shifted completely to her bird form and flew off into the distance in the opposite direction of the green canopy.

The crow stood sat alone on the branch, worn sandal cloven feet dangling over the ground below, casting shadows against the darkened earth with the rays of the sunset.

That was all he had to say, for there really was no reason to tell Kurenai that the Avenger Wolf was on the trail of the Traitor Wolf. That information really only appealed to him and him alone.

The crow's movements were silent as he stood, hair dancing in the sudden flurries that had come with the setting of the sun. Even with his mask, his face looked tired: old beyond years and with one visible eye shut and restful. He brought his arms up from his sides, hands falling down limply from wrists.

"What is to come in the future of Konoha Forest… I wish someone could predict…" He muttered, audible to only himself, as a parting word before he turned into a crow and flew across the barren ground below him, his black form leaving gliding black silhouettes against the land.

END

AN: Wow… writing that, I thought it went slow. Reading it, I thought it was horribly fast. Please forgive me . I've never just, like, jumped into a story like this before… I guess I'm not good at it… I hope it gets better…

Reviiiewwwww!

/Froggy Out